


The Crown Upon a Prince's Head

by ImagineExisting



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Comfort, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Hogwarts First Year, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Hogwarts Second Year, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Hogwarts Third Year, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Romance, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-23 00:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21310882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImagineExisting/pseuds/ImagineExisting
Summary: Eleven years ago, Bellatrix Lestrange revealed to the world that Lucius Malfoy was a death eater and that Sirius Black was not a traitor. It shook the foundations of the Malfoy family's lives and Draco wasn't even one year old yet. Now Draco is starting his years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is about to embark on a terrifying adventure.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy & Theodore Nott, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Luna Lovegood & Draco Malfoy, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	The Crown Upon a Prince's Head

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure whether I am going to continue this work or not. I started it on a whim and have another work that I'm supposed to be doing instead but I still kind of want to do more work on it as I have really enjoyed writing it so far. If you think I should continue it please leave Kudos or a comment so I can tell, not to mention it really encourages and me to keep going.

Narcissa’s expression was one of impenetrable blankness. About 20 meters in front of her was a figure, chained up in metal chair and screeching with laughter. She had always known Bellatrix was insane but it had never been so blatant. Always the quiet threat and the hidden curse. But that had been stripped away to show the lunacy beneath her skin of prestige. The whole Wizengamot had fallen into a hush as they waited for the cackling monstrosity in front of them to speak. 

“Lucius Malfoy.”

Her voice had died into a hoarse whisper, but echoed around the circular room like a shout. Narcissa felt herself pale. Her sister had been so loyal to the Dark Lord. Why was she betraying his followers to the Wizengamot? It didn’t add up but she had a sinking feeling she was going to be called out next. She was the man’s wife after all. Narcissa absent-mindedly itched at her dark mark. Meanwhile Bellatrix made a gesture of extending her hand to the now-sweating Lucius. Her voice continued in a louder drawl, as if already bored by his mundane reaction.

“Dear brother-in-law, may you accompany me to the gates of hell.” 

There was a sharp intake of breath around the room. She was quite obviously referring to Azkaban. Lucius seemed to be putting on a show of deciding how badly in trouble he was. He wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t figure out that there was no getting out of this. Narcissa noticed this epiphany of his from his, now profusely sweating, forehead. 

The Chief Warlock interrupted the now continued cackling to ask the question that was now hanging through the air. “And what of Narcissa Malfoy?” 

Narcissa was prepared for this. The man had been accused, now his family. She was already reaching towards the sleeve of her robes to show off the pale blank skin of her left forearm before Bellatrix answered. While she did hold disdain for muggles, the concealing properties of what they called ‘foundation’ were astounding. 

“Don’t be stupid.” Bellatrix droned, the humor was no longer on her face. She looked disappointed. “Cissy’s too proud to resort to violence.” 

Narcissa was not prepared for this. Bellatrix was supposed to be on Veritaserum. She couldn’t lie. The dark mark still slithered and twisted around on Narcissa’s arm, almost making her give way to nausea. Bellatrix had just condemned Lucius for his involvement. There was no possibility of her being obliviated and she was never one to hold particular importance in the sentiment of family. What was she doing? 

As the buzz of talking died down at the request of the now flustered Chief Warlock, a realisation came to Narcissa. _ She was giving me a warning. She’s showing she still has power over me. She’s preparing me to be used. _ A shiver went down her back. This was not good. 

Lucius had been called to the centre and had no choice but to comply. There was no trial. There was no need for one, Bellatrix was undoubtedly telling the truth, as she had no other choice. Lucius was going to Azkaban. 

Narcissa was called over too, but not to be restrained like her husband instead she was asked to remove his ring and to hand it over so it could be kept in ministry possession. Violent refusal meant treatment as a hostile personage. She replied with a cold glare,

“No.” Ignoring the incredulous looks she continued “I shall keep the ring in my possession until Draco is old enough to take control of the family along with the rest of our possessions. This is indisputable.” A large proportion of the aurors weakly nodded while others just looked scandalised by her blunt answer. _ Hardened by war, what rubbish. _After removing the ring from her husband’s shaking hand she moved for the door but was stopped by a small voice saying “The Lady Lestrange’s interrogation has one more question.” Turning and making her way back to her seat Narcissa wondered what was next with an inaudible sigh. 

“This is the final question to Bellatrix Lestrange.” All eyes turned apprehensive towards the center. “Did Sirius Black betray James and Lily Potter to he-who-must-not-be-named.” Who knew how many times this question had been asked. There had never been an answer. 

Bellatrix let out another giggle. She was honestly quite creepy. Narcissa missed the days when they were children and this kind of thing had seemed like normal behaviour; not that she was very normal back then either.

“Are you stupid. That accursed Gryffindor couldn’t hurt a friend to save his life.” Narcissa couldn’t help but agree but still pondered why Bellatrix saw the need to express that Sirius was innocent. It was more beneficial to keep it a secret. There was a wave of confusion as she was pressed for further information but nothing else was discovered before the Wizengamot was dispersed with more questions than answers. 

Narcissa arrived back to the manor to Draco screaming and Pippa Macmillan worriedly tending to him while mumbling under her breath, “I don’t understand what’s wrong.” She swooped in before a disaster struck, laying Draco so his head peered over her shoulder and started patting his back before addressing Pippa “Hello Pippa, It’s all okay now, I’m back.” The only response she got was a surprised murmur “Ah- I forgot to burp him.” Narcissa reminded herself to not ask Pippa to babysit again. On the other hand, that didn’t leave many people remaining to ask and the last time she had left him to the house elves Dobby had nearly broken one of the dressers while trying to punish himself for making the young master cry. He had not listened when she tried to explain that crying was normal for babies and he had done nothing wrong.

“Now, I would say it's about time for dinner. Would you like to join us?” It was at that moment that a look of confusion passed over Pippa’s face “Where’s Lord Malfoy?” Narcissa turned around with a charming smile. “Oh- he should be on the boat to Azkaban by now.” Pippa paled. “Lady Lestrange uncovered him as a Death Eater. He was quite distressed I must say. What a graceless man.” Narcissa explained with a small giggle. “Fish casserole?” She delighted in the astounded look Pippa gave her as she realised they were now in the dining room with a steaming meal between them. Someday she might teach her the trick. 

After their meal had been heartily finished, Narcissa pointed out the late time and suggested that Pippa make her way home. The girl almost ran away, with only a rushed goodbye before Narcissa was left alone in the house, apart from Draco that was. Merlin, she was glad Draco was there. Otherwise she might cry and there was no way she could allow herself to cry now, because it was going to get so much worse very quickly. 

Narcissa woke up to screams and tears emitting from Draco’s cot and sighed. Woke up wasn’t exactly the right word though, since sleep felt like a faraway dream. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet but it was unlikely she would manage to doze off if she tried, so she sat cooing at Draco, until the warm glow of morning became visible over the horizon. There was a Gala today and it would be unseemly not to attend due to a family matter that required immediate attention. She also wanted to meet with a few people. If her memory was correct, and it almost always was, it was being held by the Lady Zabini, who would certainly take offence if she disregarded the invitation. 

Ordering a house elf, Jana, to bring up breakfast Narcissa started preparing. 

Beginning with a tight-fitting corset, she applied the layers of her robes, enlisting the help of three house elves, Heath, Mara and Nico. The style worn was chosen carefully, considering the family’s new position. Green. While it obviously showed her Slytherin pride, it also gave a sense of control and balance; exactly what she needed to show. 

Next was her hair, smooth and straight on the top with carefully styled victory curls on the sides of her head. It was a style Narcissa thought quite suited her. She also made sure to de-charm her hair from a platinum blonde to her natural black. It felt refreshing. The party was fast approaching after hours of perfecting her hairstyle, it's one flaw, so Narcissa put a light glamour on her face, to hide the lack of sleep, and started applying thick layers of muggle foundation over her, now faded, dark mark, almost as if to pretend it had never existed. 

Jana had escorted her to the carriage, surprised to find her mistress was only wearing one piece of jewelry. A thin chain, sporting a golden ring. It was engraved with a winged snake or Ophis Pterotos as Lucius always corrected her and had an emerald embedded to replace its eye. It didn’t make a difference what it was called. She stepped into the carriage feeling repulsed, as always, by its over extravagance and she had been brought up by a very exaggerative family. She had Draco in her arms due to being unable to find a babysitter, but didn’t want to bother Pippa again so soon when she could be attending a prestigious event. She grimaced at the sight of the thestrals pulling them along, it had taken some getting used to, when their grotesque forms first appeared for her. It still paled in comparison to actually watching a person die. That, she never wanted to see again. 

The Gala was being held at the Ancestral Home to the Zabini Family and was a highly prestigious occasion, causing it to be an unmissable event, especially all the gossip. This time though, the thought of gossip made Narcissa’s stomach turn as she knew the Malfoys would be quite the topic. She entered the building with grace and curtseyed as best she could to Adelina’s new husband while balancing a baby. She was vaguely sure he was the fourth, now that she had divorced the one that had gotten her pregnant with her, now 2 month old, child. Blaise was the young boy’s name. 

Upon entering the banquet hall a voice called out,

“Most Honorable Wife to the House of Malfoy.”

_ Shit _. She had completely forgotten that your title was called out as you entered. Remembering to keep her face clear and posture stiff, Narcissa made a subdued and elegant beeline for the food table to quell her embarrassment. Halfway there, a familiar figure turned to face her and there was Demetria Parkinson flanked by Verena Greengrass. Demetria started rambling on about, most likely, some nonsense affair, with Verena making irregular additions and comments where she saw fit.

“Are you listening?” Demetria said after a while. Narcissa hadn’t been paying much attention to what she was saying and was rather preoccupied by the constant dread that Draco was going to start screaming,

“I’m sorry, I’m quite tired out. Could you repeat what you said?” She replied.

“The Lord Macmillan and his wife died last night in an accident on their way back from the meeting.” Narcissa froze. She had seen them while there looking happy and alive. The war was supposed to have ended. No one else was supposed to die now. A sudden realisation made her paler than a sheet of muggle parchment, “What about Pippa Macmillan?” She asked desperately, hoping that the girl would be fine, after all, she was officially old enough to take control of her house, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be a huge burden on her. “She’s at her manor, most likely, sorting out her new responsibilities.” Verena replied with a surprised look, “ Also, why wasn’t she at the trial as the heir to her family. It was lucky but still...” 

“Ah - that’s my fault. I asked her to look after Draco.” The other women nodded in understanding. Babysitters were in demand right now from the large number of newborn children. _ Speaking of which _, “How’s the baby doing Verena, you should be expecting soon, right.” Verena smiled and looked down at her pregnant belly. “Two weeks left.” She murmured happily. While talking, the women had moved themselves over to a corner with their glasses of champagne so they could gossip more freely. Verena had a water.

“Narcissa, have you heard, your cousin is currently fighting Dumbledore for the rights to guardianship of Harry Potter. That’s why Lady Bones hasn’t attended; she’s dealing with the whole mess. Dumbledore thinks he should stay with his aunt and uncle. They’re _ muggles. _Mr Black keeps insisting that they look at the parents will and that it will clearly say that himself and Lupin shall get shared custody of the boy. I think Dumbledore is up to something.” 

Demetria continued rambling on about conspiracy theories and Dumbledore’s unconfirmed love affair with Gellert Grindelwald while Narcissa took the time to think about Sirius and offhandedly wonder how Demetria found out so much information so quickly. Her and Sirius had never been incredibly close as children but they were still family and when he ran away to live with the Potter’s, she couldn’t help but miss him a bit, especially now Regulus was gone. _ I wonder if he knows about Regulus’ death. _ She thought solemnly. How would she break it to him. 

After another 10 minutes of continuous gossip, Narcissa broke away from the two and gave greetings to many of the other guests. There were a few who she had a short conversation with but everyone seemed to quite obviously not-talk-about-Lucius to the point where it was frustrating, that was until she came across Adelina Zabini who outright asked what she was going to do now that Lucius was in Azkaban. Adelina was always quite refreshing.

Once the ball had ended, Narcissa made her way to Gringotts. She urgently needed to check the accounts. With only the status of Wife to the House before, she had no right of access to the accounts but now that she had removed Lucius’ status and Draco was too young to inherit the family, she was the closest thing there was to the head now. 

On her way into the grand building Narcissa came across a familiar face with surprise. “Oh - Sirius. What are you doing here?” He was smiling slightly so Narcissa guessed he had, at least in part, won the case against Dumbledore. “Well,” he said, “ I wanted to check my personal balance in the vault and because Regulus is good at that kind of stuff and the head of the family I thought we could put the past behind us and I could just ask him. The bastard ignored me when I firecalled though.” He looked downtrodden then brightened up as if he had just remembered something pleasant. “But now, once Harry starts at Hogwarts, I’m going to get custody. They want him to spend the time before then with muggles so that he doesn’t have to deal with the constant glorification of the wizarding world.”

“Sirius that’s lovely but…” Sirius’ face turned sour at the sight of Narcissa. Her face looked cold and calm but the facade was crumbling. “Sirius, Regulus died 6 months ago.” She took a pause for breath and realised just how little she had wanted to be the one telling him this, “At first we thought he had just gone missing but then the ring returned to the house. We still got a coffin prepared and went looking-”

“That’s a lie Narcissa. You went looking. Your husband and sister were too busy being murderous fanatics and I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t even a record of where Andromeda is living now.”

“3 Kedleston Close, Derby. She has a daughter now.” Narcissa didn’t look Sirius in the eye as they stood in uneasy silence.

“I have to go now. It was nice to see you again Sirius we should meet up for lunch sometime.” Draco turned in his blanket as they walked towards the main desk of the bank.

“I would like to view the accounts of the House of Malfoy and gain consultancy with the goblin whose care it is in.”

The goblin looked at her suspiciously before drawling, “Family ring and vault key please.” She removed the necklace and placed it on the desk beside a small golden key she had taken from one of the hidden pockets in her robes. After thoroughly checking them over the gobin gave a satisfied nod and led her to a small room with a table and two wooden seats. A stout goblin with big ears and a small nose greeted them and pointed to the papers on the table, explaining all the details of what was happening with the Malfoy money. 

“Each member of the family has an allowance shown here, your investments are shown here and this is your total balance.” He said, pointing to some of the papers. “There are two vaults, one for the money and the other for family possessions. If you would like to visit a vault please notify me.” Narcissa looked over the papers and made sure to edit the investments.

**Malfoy Family Investments**

Borgin and Burkes

Twilfitt and Tattings

Madam Primpernelle’s Beautifying potions

Flourish and Blotts

Malfoy Apothecary

She believed these to be worthwhile expenditures. She would probably tweak the list later but time was getting on and it was quite urgent that she wrote Pippa a letter. There was no current need to view the vaults but it would be good to do an inventory later. The goblin told her that all of the family magic was on her shoulders now and to increase her sleeping hours to help with the stress it will put on her body. 

Once back at the Manor, Narcissa ordered Mara to bring her a quill and parchment and wrote a letter. 

_ Dear Pippa, _

_ It seems strange to me that I only saw you yesterday, yet a great deal has occurred since then. I must say, I have heard what happened to your parents on their way home last night and am ashamed to admit that I am only glad I asked you to look after Draco instead of joining them. You are a dear friend to me and my door is always open for you and your brother if you ever need help or just wish to talk and escape. It would do good for the boys to have some company. We could even invite some of the other women and make it a party - only if you would like that though. I realise it must be hard now, you have many more responsibilities and look after a small child. If you would like any lessons on childcare or anything you are unsure about I can try my best to help you or lead you to someone more educated on the subject. On another note, I have taken control of the Malfoy family until Draco becomes old enough and while in Gringotts to do this, I came across my cousin, Sirius. Our interactions were tense, as I had to reveal to him that his brother was sadly deceased but I hope that someday we may become closer. Right now, we are all each other has left of our family. I don’t believe that Andromeda wants to come back to the wizarding world, in the end. _

_ Yours, _

_ Narcissa _

After sending the letter off with her personal owl, a rather gorgeous of the Australian Masked breed whose haughty personality had always seemed entertaining to her, one of the paintings spoke up. 

“Narcissa dear, where is Lucius. None of the other manor paintings have seen him since you left for the Wizengamot meeting last night. Did you leave him there or did he do something stupid.”

It was Septimus Malfoy. Narcissa had taken great care to befriend all of the portraits in the manor, when she had first married Lucius. She had also been kind to all of the creatures in their servitude. The house would be pleased in the knowledge that it was in her care. 

“Both, I’m afraid, Septimus. He’s gone and got himself thrown in Azkaban, leaving me here to deal with everything else until Draco is of age.” The painting seemed content at her answer. It was sad really, that Lucius’ own family viewed him as a buffoon, but it was beneficial at the moment so Narcissa couldn’t complain.

Two days later, Pippa visited, Ernie in tow. They talked for a bit, then Pippa cried. She tried to apologise through heaving sobs but Narcissa told her it was fine and when she stopped crying they talked about what was going to happen now. They decided to hold a bimonthly lunch party for the pureblood women. Because parties solved a few big problems. First, both of them needed to make new and beneficial connections to find worthy investments. Second, gossip is, in Narcissa’s opinion, the most useful form of information gathering there is and third, the boys needed some friends to play with, especially as they got older. 

Narcissa contacted some people she knew and put together a guest list. She then taught Pippa how to create a menu and decorate accordingly to the theme of an event. They decided to hold it every other Sunday and it soon became one of the most popular women's events in wizarding Britain, though not, of course, beating Lady Zabini’s annual Gala. Any worse would have been a tarnish to the Malfoy name and that was already in a pretty grimy state. 

Three years passed by with ease before Narcissa was able to convince Sirius to go out for a meal with her. They went to the Hopping Pot at Carkitt market and the food was surprisingly nice. It was massively better than that at the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius brought Remus Lupin along and she became largely suspicious that something was going on between them from the strane, almost tangible tension in the air between them. But she had something to say, or at least if Draco stopped babbling at them from her knee. At least he wasn’t as bad as when he first started to properly formulate sentences. Once he figured it out, he just didn’t stop. It did mean, though, that his speech was developing fast so she had already started on teaching him manners. Even if it was a bit early for the level she was aiming for.

“Draco darling, Mother wants to talk to Uncle Sirius too.” She giggled slightly, covering her mouth to hide it, before taking a more serious tone. “There’s something I’ve wanted to talk to you about for a while now and it’s not good news.” The two men leaned in, listening carefully as Narcissa took a deep breath. “I don’t think Voldermort is dead. And before you butt in with any of your ‘I saw him nonsense’, I don’t think he’s fully alive either. Ever since _ that day _ my dark mark was faded, like his body was dead but something felt wrong. I researched it and the dark mark is supposed to completely leave the skin if it’s counterpart dies, so why hadn’t it. I don’t know how he did it but I am sure he’s not fully gone.” Their faces were pale. What she was suggesting was that one of the worst dark wizards of all time was not dead as everyone had thought. That was terrifying because it could mean another war. Narcissa itched at her arm. Or they were just being paranoid. In the end they agreed to meet up regularly to discuss possibilities and at her desperate request, made an unbreakable vow not to tell anyone unless all 3 agreed. Demetria was right when she said Dumbledore was up to something and more evidence was going to be needed than intuition before trying to convince the two about this. At least now she had restrained them from telling anyone else and built the foundation of trust in that they _ can’t _ go blabbing to anybody.

By the age of four, Draco had almost impeccable manners and his own group of friends including but not limited to: Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini and to Narcissa’s surprise, Luna Lovegood, his somewhat dazed cousin, when she was visiting. He was being educated in all manners of things and was looking more like his father every day. 

When Draco was five, Narcissa had not gone to visit Lucius in Azkaban even once. She just couldn’t bring herself to, so when she received an owl saying that Lucius Malfoy had starved to death in his Azkaban cell after refusing to eat for 3 weeks, the world started to crack in hairline slithers.

Narcissa Malfoy did not cry. She had not cried when Lucius was sent to Azkaban and this was no different. Instead, she just stood there, unable to move, unable to stop gripping the letter so it creased at the sides, while Draco finished washing on his own and went to bed. 

There was a loud knocking sound and it was unlikely that it had started just then. Narcissa straightened her back and then went to answer the door. She did not expect to find Andromeda there, clutching a letter, looking pale and worried. She expected even less to then have Sirius tackle her into a bear hug and say,

“I’m so sorry Cissy.”

“Don’t be stupid. You have nothing to be sorry about. Anyway, Andromeda…” Narcissa trailed off, not knowing what to say but also realising that Sirius had called her Cissy. She had thought only Bellatrix had remembered that name. It made her happy. “Andromeda, I’m sorry for not contacting you previously but, well, I didn’t think you wanted to be contacted. Not to mention, what would I have said.” Andromeda shook her head. “Can we come in?” They filed into the sitting room and spent the night talking and, in Sirius’ case, drinking lots of firewhiskey.

When Draco was Six, people started to notice that something was wrong with Narcissa. She had changed since Lucius had died. She had managed to convince Remus to give Draco defence and duelling lessons and he didn’t want to know where she had acquired a wand for the boy. She had him educated on topics up to 3 years ahead of everyone else. If the women didn’t know her they might have thought she was flaunting her son’s skill. But she became more reserved with showing him to those other than his friends. He was already starting occlumency lessons and training him against crucio. It was like she was preparing him for another war. The parties and meetings still went on and Remus, after years of effort, had persuaded Sirius to take over the House of Black. 

When Draco was Nine, Narcissa found a lead in her research and when her meeting with Sirius and Remus finally came about, she explained her theory hurridley. “I happened to read about something called a horcrux. It’s an illegal method of preserving your soul, even if you die. You split it up into two pieces and embed them in objects. Any more than that is extremely rare. It’s exceptionally dangerous and painful but it would explain why his body isn’t alive but his soul is not dead.” They sat thinking about it for a while and then started formulating a plan.

When Draco was Eleven, he left the manor and Narcissa to start his journey in Hogwarts.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it. Please remember to leave Kudos and comments :)


End file.
